1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a soft sleep mat that has a cushion encompassing the mat about the outer periphery so that the sleep mat envelopes the body of the user and provides an inner pocket formed between the mat and cushion.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Getting kids to sleep at night and at nap time can be a challenge. While some kids will sleep anywhere and at any time under most conditions, other kids will resist the urge and the need to sleep. As most parents know, a child who does not sleep properly, can be quite the handful. Caregivers have learned a few tricks to help induce a child to sleep at nap time as well as at night. Keeping the child comfortable, keeping the child snug and secure, and making the sleep environment a fun one, all contribute greatly to helping get the child to slumber.
For many kids, being in their own bed, which is comfortable and familiar, goes a long way to achieving these slumber assist goals. However, often additional help is needed, such as when the child is traveling and is not in necessarily familiar surroundings or simply when the caregiver wants the child closer to the caregiver than the comfort of the child's room. At these times additional sleep ammunition can be of great help.
A device is needed that helps caregivers achieve the above goals in order to increase the possibility of achieving quality rest by a child using the device. Such a device must be very comfortable to the child not only in its overall support function, but must also keep the child comfortable with respect to temperature. Such a device must be snug to give the child a sense of safety and security which is especially essential to younger children, but is also important to older kids, especially when the child is in unfamiliar surroundings or when there is stormy weather outside. A child that is snug and has a sense of security is more apt to achieve a longer and more satisfying rest period. Such a device should present the child with a fun resting environment in order to draw the child to the device. Ideally, such a device must be of relatively simple design and construction so as to be able to be produced using standard manufacturing techniques so as to be readily affordable to potential consumers of such devices.
Furthermore, such a device should have additional benefits including being able to add comfort to kids and adults when engaged in other activities, such as sitting around a camp fire, sitting in a tree stand, sitting on a sofa on a cold winter night, etc.